avengence

Found some pics on my phone of when I did my gear install on my 05 mustang. Went smoothly, put in ford racing 4.10s. Was a lot of fun, got to learn about all that stuff. Just wanted to post this up so people can see what it all looks like. I wasnt really thinking of taking pictures so I never go a pic of it all together in the diff but you get the idea.

Mustangs4U

so you did it yourself? How hard was it to do.....Also, what tools do you need to do a gear change?

avengence

Yea me and my friend and his brother changed it (his brother was wearing a **** on ford shirt). We pulled it all apart (easy part) and took the gears out. The ring gear is kind of hard to tighten back down since it was hard to clamp down the diff. We heated it up in boiling water so it went down real easy.

I put a new bearing on the pinion gear. We measured the old one with calipers and then checked the new one and it was like .29 off so we put a .30 shim on which they recommend if you dont know what was stock. To put it on we just heated up the bearing and then froze the pinion gear. Went all the way on without having to even press it (yet we still put it in the press to make sure).

It all went together smoothly and when we got it back together the backlash was at the tighter end of the spec so that was good. Hardest part was getting the 20in lbs of pre load on the bearing. It took over 200 ft lbs of torque on the bolt to crush the washer and get the proper pre load (pre load is the amount of in lbs it takes to start turning the pinion gear once its tightened down). To keep it spinning I found some bolts that threaded into where the driveshaft bolts went into. I put two in there and then put a long, strong bar in between them and wedged it into the ground so it wouldnt spin. Its hard to explain but it makes sense.

Once we got it all back together I used royal purple and with that no friction modifier is needed. For gasket I used the "right stuff" liquid gasket.

Tools used:
socket sets
digital caliper
dial indicator (checking backlash)
various air tools (impact wrenches for loosening things)
diesel sized breaker bar (for torquing the pinion gear down)
ford racing gears
pinion bearing
royal purple gear oil
right stuff liquid gasket

Let me know if you have any more questions. He is actually opening a shop soon and doing gear swaps for 500 a car with all parts and labor included (all you supply is the car). I think like that sounds like a pretty good deal.

Mustangs4U

Thanks for the info. I have always wanted to try it but I have never done a set of gears. I've done axle bearings and what not, but never the gears themselves. I hear you really need to know what you are doing to get it right. Not sure if I'd even attempt it unless it was on a non daily driver.

brunobluto

Just like to add a little info for those who are thinking of installing gears, I just finished doing my second gear swap on my 05 gt, it is a lot of work but can be done by anyone with decent mechanical skills and the right tools. Speaking of tools, if you do decide to swap your gears out yourself, get a pinion depth setting gauge.I bought mine from Ratech for like 30.00. I think Summit sells it too. Believe me, its worth its weight in gold. Which by the way it does'nt weigh much cause its made of aluminum. The new gear set you get has the depth at which it is to be set written on the head. They vary from set to set, and if it is not seated at the proper depth, you got gear whine. Using the small gauge, i was able to set my pinion depth exactly right. Not close, i got it perfect. Now I've only been able to drive my car a couple of times since the install, but thus far, i have no gear whine. By the way. i installed 4.30 gears. with my 20's, the ratio has effectively been reduced to 4.10s at the wheels. which is what i wanted.